BUICK OPEN

July 31, 2003

David Sutherland

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Great round today, David. 6-under-par 66. No bogeys. Couple birdies, an eagle. Talk about the day.

DAVID SUTHERLAND: Well, first of all, I played solid. You know, it was fairly an unadventurous round. The conditions, I think the story today may be the conditions. Conditions are very good for scoring. Didn't blow too hard. The greens are soft yet true to putt. The course is in fantastic shape, as it always seems to be.

You know, from my standpoint, I really kind of played solid. I mean, I took advantage of the par 5s that you can reach, made an eagle on one of them, birdied another. You know, sort of just consistently put myself in that 15-foot birdie range and made a couple.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Questions.

Q. There's been a lot of talk with other players about the pin placement on 13 being tough. What did you think of that?

DAVID SUTHERLAND: I don't agree at all. I think I played this golf tournament now at least seven or eight times. I think I've seen that pin every year I played here. So, I mean, no. I mean, don't get me wrong, I made par on it, it's not like I made birdie or eagle. I didn't see anything on that pin that I've never seen before.

I did not play here the last two years because I was hurt. As far as I remember, that's always been a consistent pin placement on that hole, as it should be.

Golly, I hit a 3-iron into it on a par 5. You know, they can't put it in the middle of the green (laughter).

I didn't notice it. I had a 15-footer. I rolled it up to about a tap-in. Didn't see anything goofy about it to me. Maybe somebody else 3-putted and didn't like it.

Q. Lots of names on the leaderboard who have never won. Something about the golf course? Is there a way to explain that?

DAVID SUTHERLAND: Well, I mean, I don't work for the media. I would imagine most tournaments have a fairly substantial number of first-time winners on the course of their history. I mean, I don't know how many over the course of how many years.

I wouldn't necessarily say this is a golf course that is conducive for a player that isn't maybe one of the Top 10 players out here because I think there's a real premium on driving it straight, and there's a real premium on good iron play.

I don't know. I mean, I think Kenny Perry won here, I think Tiger won here. I wouldn't say this is a golf course where -- to me at least, a golf course you can kind of bomb it off the tee, wide open. Seems to me always to be more likely the ones to produce them.

Q. (Inaudible)?

DAVID SUTHERLAND: That could very well be it. Like I said, I don't know. I don't think this is a golf course that wouldn't be well-suited for a very, very good player. In fact, I think it would be, in my opinion.

Q. If I'm not mistaken, this is your lowest round in a few months. Just curious, what was going right for you and how good does it feel to put up a number like you did today?

DAVID SUTHERLAND: I just made a few putts. I played fairly well in Milwaukee. Don't remember if I shot a 66 or not. But, yeah, I played pretty well. I haven't played a whole lot. I only played probably four or five times in the last two, three months because of some injuries.

I think I just made a few putts. I drove it straight, made a few putts. I didn't necessarily play a substantially better round of golf than I've been playing. I rolled in a 30-footer for eagle on one hole, made a 30-, 40-footer on 15 for birdie, which is one of the tougher holes on the golf course.

You know, I wouldn't have said I putted great. But, I mean, it was -- you know, I -- I wouldn't necessarily say I felt like there was something I tried to do differently than I did any other day.

Q. How are the injuries?

DAVID SUTHERLAND: Pretty good. I have a variety of injuries. I have a torn tendon in my shoulder and a broken -- I broke my wrist and tore some tendons in my wrist. The tendons that I tore in my wrist are probably the worst. I had to take about a month off the TOUR about three months ago because I had to do a cortisone shot and rehab to fix it.

You know, I don't practice a whole lot. I was out of here by 11:00 yesterday. I won't practice after my round today. I won't practice at all after my round tomorrow. It's only because of the fact the last time I tried to do that, I had to take a month off.

I finished 12th or something like that or 13th at Houston. I did some practicing. I was obviously very motivated to play well. At the end of the week, I had to take a month off (laughter). It wasn't worth it.

When I manage it very well, I can -- you know, hopefully it will hold up for the rest of the week and the near future. Certainly isn't my favorite thing to deal with, but...

Like I say, as far as the golf course today, if I was writing an article, I'd say the real story is the conditions are good for scoring. I think the scores are going to get good. I think you're probably going to have somebody come in this afternoon lower than I am. That's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

I think it was an ideal day for golf. It was warm, but not windy. The greens were, you know, in very good shape, but not fast, not too hard. I've seen them real hard here before. They weren't today.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Let's go through your round, birdies.

DAVID SUTHERLAND: Started on 10, birdied 12. Hit a drive and a sand wedge to about four feet.

15, I hit a driver in the right rough. Hit a 7-iron to like kind of in the back of the green, rolled in a 30-footer there.

Driver and 4-wood on the middle of the green 15 feet for eagle on 16.

Hit a 4-wood in the middle of the green on No. 1, made about a 30-footer.

Driver, pitching wedge, No. 5. Something I never thought I would do on this golf course. Made about a 10-footer. That's it.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you. Appreciate your time.

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